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March 14, 2018

The Murderer’s Daughter by Jonathan Kellerman

Synopsis:

A brilliant, deeply dedicated psychologist, Grace Blades has a gift for treating troubled souls and tormented psyches—perhaps because she bears her own invisible scars: Only five years old when she witnessed her parents’ deaths in a bloody murder-suicide, Grace took refuge in her fierce intellect and found comfort in the loving couple who adopted her. But even as an adult with an accomplished professional life, Grace still has a dark, secret side. When her two worlds shockingly converge, Grace’s harrowing past returns with a vengeance.

Both Grace and her newest patient are stunned when they recognize each other from a recent encounter. Haunted by his bleak past, mild-mannered Andrew Toner is desperate for Grace’s renowned therapeutic expertise and more than willing to ignore their connection. And while Grace is tempted to explore his case, which seems to eerily echo her grim early years, she refuses—a decision she regrets when a homicide detective appears on her doorstep.

An evil she thought she’d outrun has reared its head again, but Grace fears that a police inquiry will expose her double life. Launching her own personal investigation leads her to a murderously manipulative foe, one whose warped craving for power forces Grace back into the chaos and madness she’d long ago fled.

The Murderer’s Daughter was my first Jonathan Kellerman
book, and I think I am going to have to invest in more of them.

Grace Blades is an interesting protagonist. Kellerman does a
good job of making her a very deep character, using flashbacks from her past to
paint the picture of what led to her life currently. I almost enjoyed the
flashbacks more than the present time because it was a bit messy.

I felt like there were so many characters involved with the “present
time” that it was hard to keep them straight. This also stems from them having
a bunch of different names for one character. I still don’t know if I kept it straight
in the end, but I got the point of the book and the story. I enjoyed it a lot;
it was just a bit difficult to keep it all together at times.

One thing to really note about this book is the description
of death and, later on, grief was really spot on. It was interesting to read,
and I think people will be able to relate to what Grace saw and how she felt.

The Murderer’s daughter is a fast-paced mystery/thriller
that will keep you turning pages until the very end.

3.5/5 Stars just for how difficult it was to keep some
characters straight.

Memorable Quotes: "If people like you, maybe they won't hurt you.""Whatever it took to survive. She'd always been driven to survive. Which is why she was still around. A bit of luck didn't hurt, either. Fate, karma, divine will, choose your delusion.""Despite everything she told her patients about open communication, she craved the balm of ignorance. She supposed that could change. Meanwhile, she'd drive."